Legilimens -Re-updated
by anzietyfreak
Summary: (Next Gen OC)Hogwarts, the ancient building, has magic deep within its foundations. It knows Ophelia has the potential to make or break a post-war wizarding society. The responsibility of being an heiress to an important line of Purebloods should be the least of her worries when she first sets foot on Hogwarts' grounds. There is so much more in store for her. (Not good; don't read)
1. ONE

Ophelia Otsuka's POV

September 1st, 2004,

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,

A middle-aged man who snidely introduced himself as Professor Brushwick lead the awed first years through the Entrance Hall and she let out a sigh of relief at the sight of it. She was finally here. The beautiful stone walls covered in lit torches and the marble staircase to the side that lead up to the dorms she was so eager to see. Professor Brushwick lead the students into a small chamber off the hall to await their cue to join the rest of the school in the Great Hall to be sorted.

The Great Hall was lit by thousands and thousands of candles, floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. The wooden tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor Brushwick led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver as they floated above the tables.

She got nervous suddenly, under the scrutinizing gaze of every other student. She stood at the end of the line, trying to hide behind a couple of taller first years.

Professor Brushwick silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. The hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. The boys who were arguing earlier looked disappointed at the hat, and she was incredibly smug with herself at the sight and caught their eye to raise her eyebrows at them.

For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and the hat began to sing. Otsuka generalised it to being the usual house pride nonsense, as usual.

Professor Brushwick now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment. "When I call your name, please place the hat on your head and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Adrian!" A blond boy slowly made his way to the stool, put on the hat and waited for a few moments.

"SLYTHERIN!" shouted the hat.

The boy made his way to the far end of the hall where a table dressed in green and silver was waiting for him with applause. Among the students she immediately caught sight of a group of teenagers varying in age, all with either sandy blonde or light brown hair. It annoyed her immensely that she didn't have any idea who they were before hand.

"Alton, Samantha!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Brownswood, Jerry!" The small boy looked a whole lot less nervous now that he only had to wear a hat, after all his worries about a dragon.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

It went one for a while later, and she silently watch each and everyone who got up without much interest, until a boy who was anxious about the soring process earlier was called. He had a light brown, or dark blond coloured hair, and was on the scrawny side.

"Knowles, Alexander!" The large group who were complete unknowns to her, yelled and clapped eagerly awaiting his sorting. She scoffed, _lunatics,_ but couldn't help but let her eyes stray towards them again. They stuck out like wizarding robes in muggle London.

A second later the hat yelled out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Then another tall girl with the same hair was called. To her, everyone was tall.

"Knowles, Victoria!" There was barely a second after it had touched her hair, the hat cried, "GRYFFINDOR!" She took off the hat, handed it back to Professor Brushwick, then hurried toward the cheering Gryffindors, but as she walked past she glanced back at someone, and there was a sad little smile on her face.

The entire Gryffindor table yelled out congratulations to them as they sat down in the middle of the table beside the large group of rowdy blondes, instead of with the rest of the nervous first large table of lions roared with cheers, no one more than two lanky boys further down that yelled their heads off shouting, "Way to go sis'!"

"Knox, Theodore!" The next was called out, and her interest was piqued again. The tall bloke, she noted diligently.

She waited with baited breath for his results.

"GRYFFINDOR!" She rolled her eyes in frustration. There goes that potential acquaintance. Her mind blanked out again in boredom until her name was about to be called out.

"Good luck, Cassie," A girl she talked to on the train smiled as she noticed that the young heiress was next. She grimaced internally at the nickname.

"Luck?" She questioned. "I do not nor will I ever need luck. It is merely a superstition for those too dense to achieve anything themselves." She repeated it herself. Often when she felt queasy from anxiety, she fell back into alliteration, assonance and sibilance. _Stupid superstition. Violently vomiting. Incredibly ill. Incredibly ill. Incredibly—_

"Plan on tricking the Sorting Hat in order to get into Gryffindor?" A Pureblooded girl she barely recognized said snidely.

"That would be awfully Slytherin of me, if I do say so myself," She returned scathingly.

"Otsuka, Ophelia!" It yelled.

Silence fell over every single person in the room.

She walked up to the stool with as much pride as she could with everyone staring at her, The Headmaster included.

Incredibly ill. Incredibly ill.

Her bright eyes followed her with interest and it made her feel uneasy. She's heard over the years that she played favourites, and she worried that she just decided that she would be one. Either that, or she had just unknowingly put herself on the naughty list just by showing up.

She struggled onto the stool that was too big for her, and waited in suspense as Professor Brushwick placed the hat over her head and fell over her eyes.

"Slytherin," she thought. "Please."

"Ah, I see, Miss Otsuka. A lot of things are riding of this sorting aren't they, little one? Let me have a look past your layer of occlumency, and I will decide your fate."

She put down the occlumency that she never realized she put up in her mind. Seconds passed. The hat hadn't anything yet. She could hear whispers start to travel about the hall about the length of time that she was up for.

"I'm afraid, Miss Otsuka, this has never happened before," the Sorting Hat spluttered, "-a child has never managed to pull the wool over my eyes- no, it couldn't be." The voice disappeared again.

Then all of a sudden the calm was broken through like a stone dropped into a pond, "Your destiny is uncertain, yet speculative. You do not belong to any house wholly, so _choose wisely_ ," it said.

"Slytherin?" She confusedly asked the hat. She didn't know what he meant by those words, but she was going to look it up in the famously over-sized library once she got the chance. _Someone not belonging to any of the four houses? It was unheard of._

"SLYTHERIN!" The hat yelled in the end. She let out a long sigh of relief and she rushed away from the hat. The Slytherin table erupted in cheers, most likely at the prospect of having someone of her class in their house. She rolled her eyes again in exasperation. She'd kiss the first person she saw who didn't care about her surname.

When a nervous looking lanky boy stepped forward, she payed attention. Despite his nerves, "Xavier, Gabriel," was sent to the Slytherin table. He came over to sit beside her and she said to him, "Nervous?"

"I was so nervous," He swallowed as he sat down. Muggleborn, she suspected. He wouldn't be the first Muggleborn to be sorted into Slytherin, even if it was extremely rare. "That's not very ambitious of me, is it?" he frowned, so distracted by his worries that he didn't notice others from the table looking at him in surprise.

"Ambition isn't everything in a Slytherin. _Fame is the thirst of youth._ It part of the reason why Muggleborns are so popular for Slytherin now, unlike before The War. The glorification in the Muggle World is a much bigger industry than in the Wizarding, mostly because of capitalism and how the minority rich stay rich and the majority stays in poverty. The strive is there to be on of the rich while also demonizing those fortunate enough to be at the top of the food chain," she took in a covert deep breath, smiling to herself. At the confused looks on their faces she added, "A food chain is a series of living components that are reliant of each other as a source of food. Basic predator versus prey logic..." she finished slowly.

"Really?! Muggleborns are sorted into Slytherin?!" Gabriel said with excited eyes. She was a bit put out by his concentration on that one part of all she said, but stayed quiet.

"Of course," came a bitter voice from behind her. She whipped around and looked at an older boy with his arms folded over his chest, glowering at them.

"There's nothing wrong with not knowing everything at first, mate," Gabriel Xavier spoke up.

"You should've been put in Hufflepuff," The older boy scowled.

"Quite, but there's nothing to be done about it now," she shrugged her shoulders and then looked back at the boy. "Being sorted into Hufflepuff isn't an insult. Salazar wasn't the only founder to create a concealed chamber for their successors. However the Chamber of Secrets was for the sole use of his Heir, Helga Hufflepuff created a sanctuary for any student of Hogwarts regardless of their house affiliation or blood status, did you know? Incredible display of magic. Hufflepuff doesn't equal a lack of character, the same way that Slytherin doesn't equal success-"

"-Just because you are not going to succeed and you admit it, doesn't mean you can speak for every other student in our House." she pushed her long fringe back out of her eyes as she leveled them at the older students'. She didn't appreciate being interrupted, especially by someone will lesser intellect.

"You've missed my point completely," she rolled her eys dramatically, "which is most undoubtedly a common occurrence in your life, I should guess. But nonetheless, I'll explain to you." She detested the sickly condescending tone she had to use. Her parents would want to her to make a stake like this early in the year. She was even more disgusted with herself that the thought of not disappointing them pleased her. She continued without a pause, "I was merely stating that the House in which you are sorted does not determine your future definitely. I know this because I shall succeed despite being sorted into whichever House of segregated miscreants."

She smiled without any warmth at the other first years around her, "Face it; your precious Sorting Hat is a flawed system."

The Headmaster had gotten to her feet. It was a pleasant intermission from the tense table of silence. With her hear pulled back ferociously, the beaming smile on her face looked out of place. Nonetheless, she was smiling at the students with her arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased her more than to see them all there. "Welcome," she said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words: Duo Verba."

The older students who understood Latin all chuckled, save for the Slytherins who all looked incredibly irritated. Of course, she had understood the joke, and thought it clever. Sometimes being a Pureblood and having a more complete Wizarding education from an earlier age was helpful, but then again, she states I didn't know how muggles spoke to each other from far away without owls.

He seemed unruffled by the many eye rolls dressed in silver and green, but he distinctly noticed her lack of exasperation by his word choice.

He continued to speak, "A large welcome to all new students. May you find Hogwarts to be your home and sanctuary, a place of safety and familiarity against a recovering world of fear and death. May we mourn the loss and not let it keep us back. Now, before we send you off to bed, tuck in and enjoy this brilliant feast!"

The empty golden dishes in front of them were suddenly piled with food. Everyone immediately dove in, loading up their plates.

She glanced around as she put a little bit of everything on her plate to try, but was aghast at what she saw. Even Gabriel, who she thought would have more manners than most eleven year old boys, was there stuffing his face inelegantly like a bunch of other boys.

"I can see you're fighting back from a full blown grimace. I know, we're disgusting plebeians who eat like starved savages. Unlike yourself, your highness," another boy she didn't know the name of chuckled and winked at her, she rolled her eyes at him.

"Don't roll your eyes to Jesus or he might come down and stick them facing opposite directions," Gabriel teased her quietly, making eye contact but then backing out. She had to force down another eye roll.

"Jesus? What's that?" She hated admitting to not knowing things, but she hated not knowing things more.

His cutlery dropped to the table with a clatter, and a couple of upperclassmen looked down the table to the small group of first years. "Sorry- Hold up a second. Did you just ask me who Jesus was?!"

A couple of others who were listening snickered at her. She was being made out to be a fool. She was enraged. What did he think he was doing, publicly humiliating her especially on the first night?

"'Must be a Muggle thing," She spat the word, hoping to get him back, going on her previous assumption that he was Muggleborn or close to it. His hurt expression proved her earlier guesses correct. There was an uneasy silence among them.

"Did you see the stars, yet?" A girl with sparkling black-ish eyes smiled sweetly as she looked up in awe. "It's so beautiful. I love Astrology." She was sitting on her right, so she probably hadn't heard her and Gabriel's spat and was completely oblivious to the tension in the air. That was not the only thing she oblivious to either, it seemed, she thought to herself. She ground her teeth together. She had to physically hold back from correcting the Pureblooded beauty from her blithering mistake. Surely someone of that background would be more familiar with the study of the stars instead of the field of 'study' that Muggles liked they to call star-signs?

Apparently not.

"I'm Perks, by the way, Marie Perks." Her perky voice, pearly teeth and delicate eyebrows, but the most prominent thing about her was the way she held herself. Pureblood, she realized

She turned to talk to Marie but the longer she listened the more she realized how soporific this girl was. It's like what her mother used to say about those kind of people, no sentences of their own.

She knew the girl was only talking to her because of her lineage. She could feel it in the way the girl kept looking down at the rock around her finger proving her heritage. These kind of people are disgusting, she thought to herself while keeping a pleasant enough face on.

When dinner was over, she followed the Prefect towards the dungeons. Her mind was whirring and she was tired. All she wanted was to curl up and go to sleep. The rest of the night was all a blur until she was in her new bed, under cold covers and thinking about all the people she had met that day.

Ironic, was the only thing she could think about the dinner affair. The boy on her right; obviously intelligent enough to keep up with her in conversation, and cultured enough to get her out-dated taste in literature. The perfect candidate to strike up a friendship with. The only catch- Muggleborn. Her parents would be appalled at her choice of friends.

Marie Perks, however, was the opposite. She had the blood status, which was enough to keep her parents off her back, but that was it. She had no personality, or opinion, or view on anything. Ironic was the word.

Things could never be as simple as she wanted, was the last thought in her brain before she fell asleep.


	2. TWO

Alexander Knowles' POV,

September 1st, 2004,

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,

"Otsuka, Cassiopeia!" It yelled. I faintly heard Theo whisper more to himself than anyone else, "Merlin's Balls,"

Silence fell over every single person in the room.

She walked up to the stool with as much pride as someone could with everyone staring at her. I didn't understand why it was such a big deal though. Wasn't she just another student? Or did she win a Nobel Prize that I hadn't heard about?

She struggled onto the stool that was too big for her and waited in suspense as Professor Brushwick placed the hat over her head.

Ten seconds passed. Then another ten seconds. People started whispering.

The hat finally called out, "SLYTHERIN!" She ran away from the hat like it were on fire. The Slytherin table erupted in cheers, and I turned to Theo in confusion. "Why's she such a big deal?" I asked.

"She's an Otsuka _and_ a Malika," He said plainly.

I raised my eyebrows, still not understanding, "And that means?"

"Egyptian Royalty. She's literally a Queen. Or a Princess. I'm not entirely sure how the Hereditary monarchy works over there. And I mean it was big news when her mother married a Japanese Wizard a while back, my dad says..." My eyes widened and I shot around in my seat to look at her again. No wonder she had such an attitude. Poised and arrogant, he should've known something was off with her. After the last student had been sorted, Headmaster MacDoughal stood up to make his start of term speech.

"Welcome," He said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words: Duo Verba."

My older cousin and the fifth years all laughed along, but Theo, Victoria and I, the only first years sitting here, didn't get it. I nudged Henry and he bemusedly explained what Duo Verba meant in English. I laughed at the grandfather-like Headmaster and told Theo.

"Duo Verba, is Latin for 'a couple of words," I laughed. Theo joined in with me. The Slytherins didn't seem to appreciate the joke as much as us, but the Headmistress acDoughal seem unaffected by their eye rolls.

He continued to speak, "A large welcome to all new students. May you find Hogwarts to be your home and sanctuary, a place of safety and familiarity against a world that can otherwise often prove strange and unfamiliar. Though I will not deny that Hogwarts can be strange indeed. Now, before we send you off to bed, tuck in and enjoy this wonderful feast!"

The empty golden dishes in front of them were suddenly piled with food: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon, steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, and gravy. Everyone immediately dove in, loading up their plates.

"Alright, lads! Who's pulling the Halloween prank this year?!" There was a round of laughter around from where he could hear his cousin yelling at the other fourth years. "How many times will Longbottom get propositioned this time 'round?! I bet over twenty before the end of term!" Another round of laughter sounded off the walls and I turned in time to see the Herbology professor's face turn red in his chair at the high table. I wanted to face palm. He looked exceptionally embarrassed- probably due to the truth before the good-natured jeering; Girls were famously crazy for the young Herbology professor.

Theo looked up from his dinner, "Do they mean the... _Herbology_ professor? Halloween prank? What-?"

I stopped eating to look at my new friend, wondering if he was a Muggleborn, seen as he was so ignorant of everything about Hogwarts. "Every year sometime between the Halloween Unity Night and Christmas some idiot plays a cruel prank on Malfoy, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, as 'retribution,' or whatever. Just cruel if you ask me, but my parents disagree."

Theo snorted, "Is he really that lousy of a Dark Arts professor?"

"He taught Potions last year, but now that Slughorn is here he switched. Only kept us older students' classes. That's what I heard, anyway," James piped in.

"It's weird how a former death-eater teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts, isn't it?" Theo asked around a mouthful of mash. I put down my chicken leg to think about my response, "Well, he defected, didn't he? You know, before the Battle of Hogwarts?"

"I suppose," Theo deliberated but he seemed a bit lost to me.

"Besides, Malfoy was only like sixteen when he took the mark; How would you feel if kids were still calling you a death eater fifteen years after you changed sides?" I argued thoughtfully. I didn't even realize I was defending the Head of Slytherin House until Theo pointed it out. "Besides, the prank has nothing to do with his teaching. It's about some petty rivalry from The War. Afterwards -you can tell when the prank happens because he's out for like the whole week. 'Recovering', is what the lads told me they call it. You'd wonder how bad it truly is that it brings down someone like him, who'd seen so much before he was even done school-"

"Are you usually this fond of snakes or is it just this particular one? Should I be worried about you staring at me changing in the dorms? Which way do you truly swing, Alex?" Theo asked jokingly. "Hey! If I were gay then you'd wish I wanted to look at your scrawny body!" I took a swing at his arm with my right hand but unfortunately in my uncoordinated self, I missed and got his stomach.

We laughed it off and got to know each other better until dinner was over and we were shown the common room and sent straight to bed.

* * *

Cassiopeia's POV,

September 12th, 2004,

Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry,

History of Magic Classroom,

The first week of school flew by, and before she knew it the professors were giving them assignments and essays. She was constantly working on the most important subjects to her; Potions, Herbology, Charms, and Transfiguration. Only the most latter because she was finding difficulty with the theory part of the work. She could do the spells well enough, and remember them, but the hard part was remembering useless facts about them like the history, or backstory of why it was invented.

She told herself that she would only study for the ones that meant anything to her, but the material was all so easy that it worried her. Wasn't Hogwarts supposed to be where the real work began? When would something start challenging her?

She quickly ascended to the top of her classes, and by the way, Professor Slughorn had right away taken to her she feared she may be asked to join his 'Slug Club.' Oh yes, she had heard plenty of stories throughout the years of Slughorn's precious Star-Student-Club.

A shiver crawled down her spine at the thought of being forced into a whole night of Slughorn's presence. The feeling brought her back to reality where she was supposed to be taking notes on whatever dramatic revelation in history Professor Binns was talking about now. One of the first things she realized about Hogwarts in her first week was that History of Magic class was just an excuse for the students to get an extra hour of sleep in the middle of the day.

She sighed in relief when the class was over and everyone rushed out the door. Her eagerness to get to her next class was dimmed though when she looked down at her timetable and noticed she had her next class with the Gryffindors. It was Potions too, her favourite class, despite Slughorn. _Great._

Gryffindors and Slytherins slipped through the dungeon doors to enter the Potions classroom. The black, ominous looking cauldrons had already been set up at each station, and Slughorn stood at the head of the class grinning brightly. Though his face was incredibly disconcerting to her because he was never happy without there being a self-serving reason. He was a Slytherin, after all.

She was briefly thankful that he only taught the younger years and she would get a proper professor in a few years.

"Good morning! Good morning, students!" He grinned, flashing his aging teeth, "I'm very excited for today, from next class forward, over the next couple of months, I'm going to be assessing everyone's individual capabilities. Some of you will display a fine aptitude for Potions, I'm hoping," He glanced discreetly at a couple of students, one of them being her. She groaned internally. _Slug Club_ here she comes.

"Don't sit down yet, I still need to assign partners for today's potion!"

She stood there at the side of the room as Slughorn wrote the ingredients on the chalkboard, as the rest milled about as Slughorn announced the potion they'd be making, and where the ingredients were.

"Now, now. Settle down and take your seats with your partners when I read them off," His voice called out.

She secretly hoped to get Xavier. He was particularly talented in Potions from what she gathered over the first week and a half. Less hopeless than most.

"Abbott, Knowles."

"Perks, Lockwood."

"Diggory, Xavier."

"Otsuka, Knowles."

"Sorry, Sir. Which Knowles?" Victoria Knowles, a tall Gryffindor, asked Slughorn in her confusion. He raised his eyebrows in realization, "Oh, of course. Well, you go to Mister Abbott. And Mister Knowles, yes," He was half talking to himself. Probably scheming something, she thought to herself. "He can join Miss Otsuka," He concluded.

She swiftly found her partner at a workstation, and began to gather the ingredients without acknowledging him, or listening to the other names. She arrived back at the table with all the things they'll need to make a Forgetfulness Potion and found him sitting back in his chair, looking at her bemusedly.

"You realize this is a partnership right, Otsuka?"

She didn't pause as she got her book and read through the instructions. "What else would it be, Knowles?" She humoured him.

"It seems to me like a dictatorship." He looked at her like she was hilarious. She turned and looked at him blankly. She raised an eyebrow delicately, "Okay..." She replied unsure of what he was implying. She understood that he was making a joke, but she didn't get it. She could never understand his sense of humour. She usually figured people out after spending a couple of minutes with them, but she couldn't understand him and it frustrated her immensely.

"Crush the mistletoe berries, don't cut them." She looked over from the cauldron to see him struggling to cut one of the berries. She leaned over to his first year potions textbook and crossed out 'cut open', and replaced it in her elegant cursive, 'crush'.

"Thanks," Alexander said as he grabbed a pestle and crushed it with a lot less difficulty.

"Hurry up, Knowles. There are only eighty-five minutes left in the class," She snapped at him. Alex sighed exasperatedly. "Exactly, an hour and a half to complete this potion that only takes forty-five minutes," He replied as he dumped the last ingredient in. Professor Slughorn sat up at the top of the class grading second years' papers, paying no attention to them.

"But I want to hand it in early so I can get a start on our twelve-inch essay on Gillyweed for Herbology." She started stirring it counterclockwise.

"We only got assigned it this morning and it's not due until the end of the month! Wait— what are you doing?!" He tried to stop her from stirring it but she swatted him away effectively.

"I'm stirring it." She told him like he was stupid.

"But the book says to stir it five times anticlockwise. You're just stirring it clockwise, Otsuka," he said confusedly.

"The book? Written by a squib, who's never made a potion in their life. It will be clearer if we stir it this way," The way she said squib was like an insult. Squib; a nonmagical being, born to magical parents.

"I was almost a squib you know, Otsuka," He spoke defensively. "Maybe don't say it with so much passion next time."

"Yes, well, that is to be expected with your muggle background." She knew he was a Half-blood, but she also knew that he barely classified as that with a Muggle-born father and a muggle mother.

"Purebloods can be squibs too, you know," He defended himself childishly. She stopped stirring and didn't reply for a while she set the temperature to the right setting and sat back, ready to wait for forty-five minutes.

"Yes, well done for figuring that out." It was still somehow condescending. Even if she had agreed with him.

Forty-five minutes later she walked up to Slughorn's desk and cleared her throat. He put down a scroll he was grading and looked up. He smiled at her genially, "Do you need some extra assistance, m'dear?"

Her brows furrowed, "No, Sir. My partner and I are finished. Here's the finished Forgetfulness Potion." Slughorn's eyebrows shot up and he took the potion slowly. "And you're sure it's been done correctly?" He asked her.

She was mildly insulted at that. Did he not think her intelligent enough to get it right on the first time? She tried to keep a smile on her face even though her temper was boiling. She almost scoffed; as if anything was even hard so far, least of all Potions. "Yes, Sir. I'm positive." He nodded back and performed a few spells on it quickly.

"Well done, Miss Otsuka, and Mister Knowles. The first pair to complete the potion successfully!" He announced to the class. She let the corners of her mouth twitch up with pride as she returned to her desk, ignoring her Slytherin peers who glared at her for making them look bad. She was pleased with herself.

"I think that's the first emotion you've ever displayed on your face, ever, Otsuka. Apart from disgust, or annoyance, naturally." He was back to making jokes.

Without her permission, her curl of the lips turned into a real smile. Teeth showing, eyes sparkling, and a laugh at the back of her throat that she wouldn't let out. His eyes widened and he grinned even bigger.

"My greatest feat. Ladies and gentlemen. I have made the famously expressionless Otsuka, smile. Tell them to write this on my tombstone, I think I'm going to die right here, right now of happiness." He said proudly, without being loud enough to attract anyone else's attention.

"Don't get cocky, Knowles. You've only known me for two weeks, not a lifetime." That was the last thing she said before she tried to finish her essay on Gillyweed for Professor Longbottom. He was good and gave them a good length of time to complete it, but expects a lot of them. He's got high expectations, she could see from the start, and she liked that he actually cared whether they were learning or not. It infuriated her when all the girls in her year ever talked about that related to Herbology, was Professor Longbottom's looks.

She was halfway through it when Knowles nudged her in the arm, causing her to spill ink on the paper. She waved her wand and muttered a cleaning charm. She gritted her teeth.

"What, Knowles?" She asked him expectantly. He better have a good reason for interrupting her. He put a small ripped piece of parchment in front of her, "From Gabriel."

With a rocky start, a cautious friendship had started between her and Gabriel Xavier. She honestly didn't know why she kept staying up in the common room, or the library, just talking to him.

"Okay." She nodded.

"Your welcome, Otsuka," He purposefully said to her, a mischievous glint in his eye. There he was, the cheek of him, trying to pry a 'thanks' out of her.

She blinked at him slowly and pursed her lips. "Thank you, Knowles," She ended up saying with much reluctance. It wouldn't be done to pick a fight with some boy so soon into the year. The general opinion in the school was that Gryffindors had a tendency to keep long-standing, irrational grudges. She picked it up gingerly and started to read it but before she had even finished the first word she felt someone looking at her. The prickles of trained eyes on her was unmistakable.

Her eyes scanned around quickly and landed on the boy sitting next to her. His bright eyes stared at her unabashedly.

"What now?"

"Do you have a whole name?" He said without any sort of underlying joke to it.

Idiot. "Of course I do." She replied without telling him what her first name was. Her peers all called her 'Otsuka', and she was happy with that. Her first name was what her parents called her, and she didn't have an intimate enough friendship with anyone in school to let someone call her by anything other than 'Otsuka.'

"What is it?"

"None of your business, Knowles," She stressed out his second name in hope that he'd leave her alone, and fortunately for her, he got the hint and went back to doodling on a spare piece of parchment. She, in turn, read the note from Gabriel. It didn't say much, just that he wanted her to save him a seat for dinner so they could discuss whether or not they'd have to skive off flying lessons tomorrow in order to avoid getting on a broom. She had to fight down a laugh.

He was odd for a Slytherin. He had not one cautious bone in his body; It was very Hufflepuff of him, but she found it refreshing.

She continued to rise to the top her classes quickly and therefore was not surprised when Slughorn kept pairing her together with Knowles. He wanted to keep an eye on both of his top students.

It was weeks later when he cornered them after class.

Class was dismissed all too quickly before Slughorn called on them. "Mister Knowles. Miss Otsuka, would you mind staying behind to have a little chat? 'Won't keep you long, m'dear," He added jovially as he caught the desperate look she gave the door.

The other eleven-year-olds scurried from the dark and gloomy dungeons in haste, and she had to agree with them internally. She liked the common room well enough, but the dungeons were cold and unwelcome, nothing compared to the general atmosphere of the school. But then again, all buildings were like that weren't they, she pondered. There was always a certain part of the house or building that you weren't comfortable in. Maybe not though, maybe she was unusual, and it was just her.

"I've been asked to submit five admirable students of my choice for the chance to earn extra credits for the OWLs." He chuckled at Otsuka's look of eagerness, "I know it's years away but even from the first few months your talents have been noticed when it comes to Potions—"

"I would love to participate, Sir," surprisingly, Knowles said.

"I, too, would love to have the chance to get ahead while I'm offered the chance. What would be in question with it, Sir?"

"A NEWT level potion. I'm afraid you might need to read ahead quite a bit to get it, but as I'm sure you're aware, if you can complete it properly, you will be highly commended," He added, picking up a stack of parchment and tapping it on his desk. "Everything you need to know is in this," He handed it to Knowles, and his eyes bugged at the size of the stack in his arms.

"But, Sir— We're only first years—"

"I'm sure you'll find yourselves capable, m'boy." He smiled at them before they were excused to their next class, but Otsuka couldn't help but think that his smile looked more like a snake ready to kill its prey.

When they completed this potion they would be no-doubt introduced as the first First Years to ever be in the Slug-Club.

Gabriel was waiting for her outside the classroom door when she finally got to leave after Slughorn praising her and Knowles again for the completed potion. He was leaning against the wall stoically, and she knew right away that something was wrong. Call it some sort of a premonition if you want.

"What is it, Xavier?" She asked him as she paused in front of him. He started walking beside her down the hall towards the Great Hall.

"Nothing."

"I doubt it, now. Come on, tell me," She pushed gently. She'd never been gentle about anything in her life, but it seemed too harsh for her to be cold to the boy who never thought anything bad about anyone.

"They called me a Mudblood..." Gabriel admitted so quietly that she almost missed it. Her blood boiled and the adrenaline or pure rage shot to her wand hand. Tiny sparks of energy shot through her fingers in an uncontrolled wandless magic.

"Who?" She gritted it out between her teeth. He looked at her wearily, "I don't know if I should tell you. They're only going to take it out on you for defending me. I just don't get it, I'm not even Muggleborn! Ridiculousness. I'm a Halfblood. They're just hell-bent on making someone miserable."

"It's not going to be you though." She said, "They can find someone else, preferably someone I don't like." He smirked, "You like me, huh?" The most Slytherin thing he had done since she met him.

Confidence suited him, she made a mental note. "As a potential friend. Get over yourself or your ego will burst through those big ears you have," She dragged him back down to planet earth before he got too cocky.

"Excuse me, I do not have big ears," He self-consciously raised his hands up to his ears as they turned scarlet. A large grin spread across her entire face as they finally reached the Great Hall's doors.

"So?"

"I'll tell you if you promise not to do anything about it. I can handle this myself."

"I know you can," Otsuka said defensively, "I just want to make them pay twice as much." There was a gleam in her eye as she imagined all the different ways she could make them suffer without actually breaking any of the school rules.

"Fortunately for you, and maybe not so fortunate for them; I've been blessed with beauty and rage." Her hands clenched and Gabriel examined her carefully, probably wondering if she was going to implode from her abundance of anger.

* * *

Alexander's POV

November 21st, 2004,

He caught sight of her as soon as he rushed through the doors of the Great Hall. He was a bit winded as he sat down, laughing as he thought about Filch's reaction to the dungbomb he just set up. His heartbeat didn't slow down as he stared at her. She sat hit her book bag on one side and another pile of books on her other side, separating her and the rest of the Slytherin students. Just her and her books, in a bubble of her own.

Pureblood.

The word simply rolled off her in a wave of arrogance and sophistication. He thought her intriguing; She never shared her opinion in class, and never loitered about with friends. He had started to think that she didn't have any friends until Alex befriended a Slytherin called Gabriel Xavier. He was a nervous, lanky blabbermouth but cool enough, and he talked about her frequently. Therefore Alex concluded that she actually did have at least one friend.

It didn't matter to him that she was a Slytherin or a Pureblood, but his friends constantly teased him about it. Especially Theo. He'd tried to get her attention, honestly, but she shot him down every time. He set off all sorts of pranks with his cousins or with Theo, but she'd never look at him twice. He was infamous by December, but her brilliance was famous in Hogwarts by then, too.

The nuisance and the most-ambitious-Slytherin-to-ever-be-sorted, his friends would jeer. They'd call them a discount Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger, even though the roles were reversed. He didn't care though because he knew they were only joking. They never believed he was seriously thinking about her because they always treated the subject as if she were royalty. Alex still didn't understand that.

"Alex!" His older cousin Isabelle knocked him on the shoulder as she skidded to a stop beside him and sat down on the bench. Her knee was bouncing and she jittered, glancing around. Her sister Victoria sat on his other side. Alex snapped out of his reverie.

"What's up Mickey?" He said to Isabelle with hesitation. An excited twin meant trouble was closely followed.

She ignored the stupid nicknames he always made up to annoy people. He hated calling people by their names. Some angst-ridden need to rebel against conformity, probably. "Well, Henry and I thought Tori might want a tour of all the school's secret hideouts, ya' know, in case she needed some quiet places to ravish some boys," Alex choked on his own spit and span, looking at Victoria, his face turning red and his mouth agape. "What?!" He almost screeched. The two girls took one look at each other promptly burst out laughing.

"Quiet places to read," She translated for him. He sighed, "Thank God."

"What had you in such a good mood? Hardly walking around Hogwarts put such a skip in your step?" Isabelle's smile widened again. She lent in on his shoulder like she was regaling some grand tale of how she slew the dragon, "So Henry went off to start homework for tomorrow and I was walking down the corridor with 'Tori here," She gestured to the younger girl. "When I overheard these two seventh year boy that James is friends with, talking about asking me out on the next Hogsmeade." She let out an awfully girly squeal.

He laughed, "Great Merlin and here I thought Victoria was the only girly girl in our family." His curious eyes scanned the Great Hall, trying to define who the seventh years were in each house. "Who was it?"

"Amos Dreble," Isabelle sighed pathetically. Victoria giggled at her older sister. "That brainless prat?" Alex's voice was incredulous as his cousin mentioned the school's famously stupid Quidditch Captain. He was all brawn and no brain, Alex had to admit.

Eventually, he turned and smirked at her; It was very Slytherin of him if he did say so himself. "Planning on using those reading spots yourself in the future, Giddy Gabby?" He snicked and made a rude gesture with his fingers.

"No, actually on second thought, if I'm lucky enough, we'll just shag right here on the table in front of the Headmaster and everything," She spat sarcastically, making him choke on his spit. Victoria looked at her sister in disgust, "Yuck, Isabelle! Why'd you give me that mental image." Isabelle chuckled to herself at their discomfort.


	3. THREE

November 7th, 2004,

Empty Potions' Classroom,

"I can't believe you!" She threw her hands up in frustration. "I can't believe you," he mimicked in a high pitch voice.

Her dark hair sparked at the ends with uncontrolled magic as she strode over to him, "That potion was near perfect before you got your useless hands on it. How dense can you be?! Now we have to restart it and do it all again! Do you know how much effort I put into that project?!" As her tirade grew shrill, his smile began to falter. "It was just a potion, Otsuka. Calm down, Jesus!" He held up his hands in surrender.

She grabbed his tie roughly and dragged his head down level with hers; almost a foot in difference, and whispered threateningly, "No God will save you from my wrath if you nearly sabotage my end of year credit again." She released him and stormed off to retrieve more ingredients to start the potion again.

December 1st, 2004

"James Knowles!" The shriek was heard by anyone within a fifty-mile radius.

Isabelle arrived in the Great Hall, her chest heaving, her blonde ponytail swaying, her blue eyes alight with a golden fire. She advanced on her brother menacingly and he had the grace to look embarrassed. Everyone in the Great Hall sat up and paid attention because it was a common knowledge that the Knowles weren't to be messed with; The logic behind that was the fact that no one could duel all of them at once.

So this was going to be good. No one could recall seeing this particular Knowles quite this furious.

"Uh, Isabelle, you're looking lovely this morning," James said weakly. His sister responded with an incoherent shriek of rage. Her friend Jasmine, a Ravenclaw, arrived in the Great Hall at a flat-out run, and when she saw it wasn't too late, hurried over. She started whispering in Isabelle's ear, and Alex tried to eavesdrop. She nodded and then shook off Jasmine's arm.

"Fine. You're so lucky that Jasmine likes your face," She hissed at her brother.

"I do not!" Jasmine shrieked and covered her face with her hands.

"Uh," James said cleverly, completely shocked by his sister's words. "However, I am owling Dad," His sister hissed at him. He rubbed his rib through his school robes subconsciously.

James paled. "You wouldn't." He stated, uncertainty laced in his voice. "I would and I am," She growled at him. She turned and ran from the Great Hall. Jasmine glared at him and followed her friend.

"Isa, wait!" Jasmine called out after her, hurrying to keep up. When Isabelle was pissed off, her long legs could walk fast.

"Where are you going?" James called after her retreating form.

"The owlery," Isabelle growled. "You were serious about that?" Jasmine asked in surprise. Usually, James and Isabelle covered for one another, no matter whether or not they actually approved of what the other was doing. It was like some sort of unwritten code that the two eldest siblings lived by.

Victoria and Alex looked at each other in confusion but before they could ask James, the Head Boy, a boy from fourth-year _-who Alex briefly knew as being a friend of Isabell's-_ smacked him on the upside of his head, "Grow up, James," he spat before he stormed off, following Isabelle's previous actions.

James didn't eat anything else that night and went to bed hungry, only feeling partially guilty.

 _Flashback_

Sunday Night, November 28th, 2004

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,

Boys' Dormitories, Gryffindor Tower,

James lay on his bed in the year-Heads' dorms with his curtains pulled back. The moon had set and the light was drained from the room. The florescence of the moonlight glowed on his skin. He couldn't go to sleep though because he was informed earlier that his sister was out on a date in Hogsmeade with a seventh year jock, and she hadn't returned yet. His mind was going at 100 miles-per-hour as he thought up all the equally disturbing and anger-inducing ideas about his sister being defiled by some beefy Quidditch Captain. He was going to rip his head off if he had touched her. She was barely sixteen for goodness sake. And he was eighteen; of age. An adult in society's eye. She was barely old enough to be jail-bait.

He was going to kill Amos Dreble.

 _End of flashback_

* * *

 _"I bet you kiss your knuckles._

 _Right before they touch my cheek."_

Monday Morning,

The Great Hall,

James saw the seventh year boy the next morning before Arithmancy. He was only with one other seventh year who James didn't know. Not that many students were up that early in the Great Hall, so it didn't take long for Henry to see him.

Amos noticed him quickly and he had the audacity to wink at him when he walked past, "How's Isabelle? Probably still sleeping off all activities we got up to last night, I'd say." He taunted. James' blood boiled.

"Say that again, Dreble," he challenged.

"What I meant to say was that your sister's a slut for putting out on the first date," Amos snarled back at James.

A red haze began to cloud James' vision and he was having trouble breathing properly. He managed to get up from the table without doing a flying leap and ripping out the bastard's throat, but it was very, very difficult. Amos only seemed to be pleased after getting a rise out of his peer, who was a good few inches shorter.

At that point, they were both looking for a fight.

Amos' build was intimidating, and James' scrawny frame and underdeveloped muscles weren't nearly as impressive. But despite that previous statement, it was James who took the first swing, and he only walked away with bruised ribs and a sore skull. A scholar could take on an athlete if enthusiasm was as important as muscle.

Otsuka was one of those few students who came for an early breakfast, being the early bird that she is. She witnessed the interaction with mild interest, up until the fight broke out and she lost interest completely. Two plebeians fighting like neanderthals. Though secretly she had her bets on the meaty seventh year.

Not once over the past couple of months, had Otsuka seen someone look quite so angry. The smaller boy punched and kicked with a fury she hadn't expected. A Ravenclaw prefect called Jasmine McKinney went for the Professors as soon as the brawl started and not two minutes later did Professor Brushwick stomp in. He was a plump man with a round belly and a long mustache-slash-goatee thing on his face and chin.

The boys were separated with Petrificus Totaluses and sent to the infirmary with only detentions until the Christmas Break. Nefertari remarked to herself that they deserved more than that after almost killing each other.

* * *

December 18th, 2004,

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,

Gryffindor Tower,

Snow blanketed the outside of Hogwarts while the students gathered their trunks together and preparing to spend the Christmas holidays at home. Few children remained at Hogwarts, though the weather was perfect for snowball fights. James and Isabelle, now speaking again, had even created a school-wide snowball fight that ended up with seven Slytherins and four confused Hufflepuffs that got caught in the crossfire in the Hospital Wing.

Alex and Theo had come out on top in the first year division of the games, but they nearly got frostbite because of it, too. Cassiopeia Otsuka had, of course, refused to participate and had convinced Gabriel not to either. She thought the other Houses would gang up on the Slytherins, and she had been right in the end.

"Theodore, why aren't you dressed?" Alex said in a mock-appalled tone as he descended the staircase to the boys' dormitories. "We need to leave for the train soon."

"Mum and Dad..." Theo said the words with a scowl on his face, "told me to just stay here."

He'd written letters to his parents from the first night informing them of his sorting, his classes and his quick friendship with Alex. They wrote back once a month requesting reports of his classwork and asking if he was in need of anything, the parchments looking more like a supply order form rather than a letter from a parent to a child. He had gotten his hopes up; Maybe if he was away at Hogwarts they'd miss him and realize how they'd neglected him since their divorce, or so Theo had foolishly hoped. His mood only dampened more when he realized he'd be alone for Christmas. Alex would be going to his own family, leaving Theo to bathe in his own disappointment.

"So you're going to sulk for the whole break? Just because your stupid parents are too caught up in their own lives to realize how much of an asshole they're being by ignoring you?" He summed up.

"Who cares?" He crossed his arms like a petulant child.

"You do, obviously," Alex frowned and sat beside him on the couch.

"Like hell!" Theo snapped, but despite his bitter mood he was somewhat grateful he was friends with Alexander. He always seemed to know the right thing to say.

"Come home with me, then," Alex said simply.

"Really?" Big brown eyes turned as he stared up at his friend's smiling face.

"Sure. My parents won't mind."

An hour later they were walking down the grand staircase with two full trunks levitating behind them.

"You'll be happy to know," Alex stated proudly, "that I have everything packed and I didn't forget anything this time," He said smugly, still taking the mickey out of Theo for using a checklist when packing.

"You have all your clothes?" His friend raised a single brow at him. Theo had made the list for a reason. "Yes," Alex answered.

"You actually remember your wand this time?"

"Ha, ha," Alex snapped and then continued with a whingy voice, "It was _one_ time."

Theo burst out laughing. "Yeah! Your first day of Hogwarts! Might be a bit of a setback to not have a wand, don't ya' think?"

The boys quickly made their way down to the Entrance Hall where the students would be loaded into carriages and taken back down to Hogsmeade Station, where the Hogwarts Express was waiting to take them all back to Kings Cross.

Kings Cross Train Station

"Look dear, there's Alex!" Max Knowles pointed as his son stepped off the train, a tall, skinny boy with dark hair standing right beside him. He kept an eye out for his nieces and nephews and spotted them in a cluster further down the platform. She held onto his three-year-old daughter's hand firmly as wizards and witches bustled about around him and his wife.

"Alex!" Max waved to his son who smiled and rushed over to his parents, being instantly pulled into hugs by the both of them. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed them.

"Hi Mum, Dad.." He smiled nervously. "This is Theo," He turned and gestured to the boy behind him who swallowed and stayed back a bit. Max grinned and extended his hand towards the nervous boy, "Glad to meet you, son. Maxwell Knowles. And you are Alex's..." His eyes flicked to his son looking for some hint. Theo took his hand wearily, unsure of where Alex's father's train of thought was going.

"Best," Theo paused, "uh... _friend_ , Sir."

Alex rolled his eyes.

"And this is my wife Olivia," he gestured to the blonde woman to his side who seemed to be smiling smugly at the way her son lingered protectively around his friend. A strong friendship was brewing, she could feel it in her motherly senses.

"Theo is coming home with us for Christmas, Dad," He said happily. His mother nodded in understanding, after receiving multiple letters from her son over the last couple of months, an unhappy home life had been hinted at when he spoke of his newest friend.

Max clapped Theo on the back in a good old-fashioned way. "The more the merrier, Theodore."

"Theo," He corrected and he nodded his head respectively. "I really appreciate, I mean, I am very grateful," he stammered a bit before inhaling a deep breath to calm himself, "I just want to thank you for letting me into your home on such short notice, that's all."

"Of course, love. You are more than welcome," Olivia, Alex's mother, spoke with an accent that he couldn't place. "And this little rascal here would be our little girl, Emily." The small girl hugged her mother's leg, acting shy. Theo smiled at her sincerely; He had always liked little kids.

"Now, let's go find that troublemaking cousin of yours and her siblings," Her and her husband had started to walk down towards the end of the platform when they realized Alexander had disappeared somewhere. Alex leaned over to Theo and whispered theatrically, "There's an inside joke where my mum pretends that Isabell is her favourite child, even though she's my cousin, not my sister. In return," he snickered, "Uncle Luther and dad pretend to fight over which of the kids in the house are each other's. Oh! Yeah, my extended family and I all live in one house, by the way. It's in a muggle village but extension charms work wonders." Alex winked at him. Theo grinned back. The envious little voice in the ack of his head was stomped down by his loyalty to Alex's friendship. An internal struggled played out like a dramatic film scene.

"Theo, where has Alex gotten to?" Max asked, clueless. Immediately Theo groaned.

"Ugh . . . he'll be a minute," He rolled her eyes and then gestured to the train where an irate girl was holding her wand in her right hand ready to fight. Her other hand was holding tightly onto her trunk, "Let go of my trunk, Knowles!" The Slytherin bellowed at Alex who was fighting her for it as though it were a game of tug of war that he was surprisingly losing.

"I'm carrying it for you!" Alex declared. "Want me to carry your bag, too?" He asked eagerly, his face flush as he stared down into her bright sapphire eyes, though one side of his face was a brighter shade than the other.

"Get away, you insolent Mudblood!" She yelled in reply, causing quite a scene, yanking on the handle of her trunk and stormed away as quickly as possible, her long black hair flowing behind her. Theo paused. Her voice sounded so dangerous he didn't doubt that she would've physically hurt his friend and yet his friend stood there looking at her retreating form, in a daze. He almost wanted to warn Alexander away from making enemies, but couldn't.

"Write to me?" He called desperately after her, waving his hands. His mission in irritating her until she exploded was almost complete-

"Never!" Otsuka's voice echoed in the distance. Mission successful.

"Mum!" He sighed and rushed off back to his family, but was shocked to find them -even his cousins who had found their way to his parents- were staring at him in shock. Max stared down at his son with laughter in his eyes after watching the scene. Olivia, on the other hand, looked horrified.

"Alex, dear? Is everything alright?" She patted his head affectionately.

"Everything's grand!" Alex beamed brightly.

"Oh dear," Olivia frowned. "Goodness, Alexander, darling, did someone give you something?" His mother felt his forehead. "I don't quite understand wizarding potions but maybe he was poisoned? And your face! How did I not notice?!" She grabbed his chin, forcing the reddening, blotchy bruise on his face towards her.

"Unfortunately not," Theo stared at Alex in embarrassment, who was still lost in the midst of stupidity. "This is all him." Alex turned to his father and exclaimed, "She hit me!"

"Who hit you? That feisty little girl?" Max blinked at his son, holding back another chuckle. "Smacked him hard too," Theo barked out a laugh as he started to feel comfortable with Alex's family. "It was hilarious."

* * *

Cassiopeia's POV,

December 24th, 2004,

 _"You are lucky, arranged marriages are rarely so well arranged."_

She was desperate to sneak away to talk to her friend but knew she couldn't hang out with Xavier other than at Hogwarts. Showing up on his doorstep during the holidays would draw way too much attention. She wished to escape from her house this especially. Her parents were throwing a Christmas Ball. She cursed in her head as her mother tightened the horribly restricting corset she had to wear under her dress robes. It didn't get better when she put the dress on, and she worried vainly that whatever bust that had grown throughout the summer would be squashed back into her rib-cage permanently.

Her mother knew she didn't like going to these types of things, but there was nothing to be done about it. She owed it to her parents to not embarrass them so publicly as to not go, as their eldest child, to their own Soiree. As she looked into the over-sized mirror she noticed her black hair was pulled up into a loose chignon with soft ringlets resting against her sharp cheekbones; It contrasting violently with the pale blue of her dress robes. Fortunately, the dress was brought out the dull blue in her eyes, as her mother pointed out. She blamed the melanin-lacking irises on her mother's Egyptian genes. Regardless that her mother eyes were a startling cerulean blue and not a bland crystal type of blue.

Her mother took one last look at her and fixed the diadem on the crown of her head only once before she deemed her daughter appropriate. Otsuka stared at her feet, not looking forward to this at all.

"Chin up princess, or the crown slips," Her mother said finally, and Otsuka was brought back to reality. She was unsure if her mother was warning her about her appearance, or if she was talking about something more sentimental, but either way, it reminded her of her responsibility.

She would socialize, make small talk with people she didn't care about, and be pleasant, for her parents. As she finally escaped from one particularly boring conversation with an older boy she slipped away to get a sip of pumpkin juice. She'd become partial to it after drinking it non-stop at Hogwarts.

Her mother had only said a handful of words to her throughout the whole night and her father even less, so when her mother approached her with an obviously faked pleasant smile, her anxiety skyrocketed.

"Cassiopeia, darling," Her mother said, looping her arm through hers and pretending that she was escorting her around the large room when, in reality, she was practically dragging her.

"Come and meet some friends of your father's," She said and walked him over to a family of four. Her father greeted her with a fondness that she returned, but her mind was stuck on a tall man with dark hair. The man stood beside a beautiful but cross-looking wife, and two boys who looked near Cassiopeia's age. One looked incredibly familiar, the other looked older, but still recognizable from somewhere. She supposed they attended Hogwarts.

"Charlus," Osiris, her father, smiled and shook the other man's hand. Otsuka dully noted that her sister was already with their parents already. "Cassiopeia, my eldest," he offered her up like a piece of meat, in that sentence; She was eleven, but exceptionally bright, if she did say so herself. She'd faced harsh realities and responsibilities her whole life, and she was fluent in the proprieties her mother spent her whole life shoving down her neck. She got a feeling her parents were offering her as a bride, but that couldn't be, she thought. Afterall, she was only eleven.

"There she is, the girl I've heard so much about." The man, Charlus, said in a jolly tone. He seemed harmless at first, but she could see a stony complexion behind his eyes. The same as her father. She'd never seen her father truly angry, and she didn't want to. "Only a couple of months into Hogwarts and already getting the highest marks in the year. Very impressive, Cassiopeia." He said with a lilt to his voice, making eye contact with one of his sons.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up in anxiousness. Control your emotions, she told herself. She forced herself to smile regardless of the sinking feeling in her stomach. She had a bad feeling about this. "Glad to meet your acquaintance, Sir." She turned to the woman, "Ma'am," she nodded giving the woman a show of respect, even though she could practically feel her little sister, Lina, practically glaring a hole in the side of her head for the gesture.

Charlus nodded, a returned signal -Or in approval of her manners- and then gestured to the boys beside him. "These are our sons," he said, pointing to a young man no older than seventeen who had dark auburn hair, nearly brown in color except when the light reflected off of it, then it was fire. "Cepheus, who just turned fifteen."

The older boy nodded his head politely and he then lowered himself to kiss the knuckles of the witch. "It's a pleasure to meet you," she said pleasantly. "And Phinneas, who just started Hogwarts," The man finished, pointing to the younger brother. She suddenly realized why they looked familiar. The younger boy was in all her classes.

Her father then turned to her little sister, a tiny, sour-looking girl eight-year-old, who had her eyes narrowed at the man. "And . . ." Osiris hesitated as he introduced his youngest daughter, "Lina."

The smile she was giving him in addition to the scowl coming from Lina, must have been giving Cepheus a headache, because he formally put his hands behind his back and nodded his head in Lina's direction, a polite way to avoid kissing her hands. She figured Lina the type who would take a simple gesture as something far too intimate, and at the same time appeared like she'd curse him for it if she could. "Ladies," Cepheus said with a kind voice. Lina rolled her eyes, picking up her older sister's bad habit. Otsuka's eyes bugged out of her head.

"Lina," Osiris addressed his daughter firmly, "Why don't you and Phinneas go and get yourselves something to drink. The adults have something to discuss."Otsuka ertarNei looked at Phinneas imploringly, and he grabbed her sister by the hand and dragged her away from the small crowd, leaving their parents behind looking positively mortified. "Apologies, Charlus, Roxanne," Osiris said with an irritable tone, "We meant to leave the . . . other one with a house elf but she just can't be trusted. You know how it is. I trust you won't hold it against us."

Otsuka turned her gaze briefly after Lina and Phinneas who lingered near a fountain that had been charmed to pour chocolate non-stop. Lina was scanning the room, looking like a prey animal desperate for an escape somewhere.

"Little Lina Lupe . . ." Charlus said her first and middle name, explaining to the Cepheus, "Due to no fault of her devoted parents, has started showing signs of disloyalty. My hope is that she sees the error in her ways before she is improperly sorted like that wretched brother of yours." Another brother? She wondered. But it did make sense, after all, there was a pretty big gap between eleven and fifteen.

Otsuka hid away the sting of pain in her chest at the mention of her little sister being sorted somewhere else. She could only wonder if her parents would let her stay in the family at all after being sorted somewhere other than Slytherin. Otsuka's mind was being broadened by that fact; She never knew her parents were so, cold and unforgiving.

Somehow the conversation drifted from Lina to Cepheus and Otsuka's mind snapped back to the present. "-Such a handsome boy, too," Roxanne said, reaching up and threading her fingers through his auburn hair. "Could you imagine?" Her mother asked with a gleam in her eye. Otsuka's blood froze.

Roxanne nodded back excitedly, "Such lovely children, wouldn't there be?" She agreed heartily. Otsuka had a feeling they weren't talking about her and Cepheus, but hers and Cepheus' would be children. She panicked internally while keeping what she hoped was a calm face but she couldn't be sure and turned to Cepheus horrified. He saw the dazed look in her eyes and smirked, before letting a chuckle. "Mother, it seems you're giving poor Cassie a heart-attack with all this talk about the future." There it was again, the lilt in their voices.

The men came out of their conversation about business and chuckled and both her own mother and Roxanne smiled pleasantly.

"Darling," Her mother said, gripping her arm and taking her a few steps toward the fountain- Probably to create the illusion of privacy- Where both Lina and Phinneas were still standing, likely waiting for one of their parents to direct them somewhere.

"What do you think of Phinneas?" Otsuka sagged in relief, "Uhm, I don't know, to be honest, mother. I've yet to make his acquaintance in school and all I've heard is that he's failing quite a few subjects and-" Her mother tutted and cut her off. "Surely won't do at all for a clever girl like yourself, is what you're saying. Maybe Cepheus would make a better match." Otsuka tightened up again, "I didn't mean any-"

"Nonsense girl, you shall make a fine couple once you come of age." Her mother cut her off again and finished on a note of finality that Otsuka knew she could never argue with.

"What are your thoughts on Cassiopeia, dear?" Roxanne asked her son, eagerly awaiting a positive reply. Osiris Otsuka and Charlus Sauvegarder stood near, intently listening for his response.

Cepheus swallowed. "Lovely girl," he said quickly. "I don't recognize her though."

"She just started Hogwarts this year, but I'm positive you'll be surprised by her abilities. At such a young age, as well." His stomach tightened at the hidden meaning behind his mother's words.

"Very bright indeed, I suspect," Cepheus tried to say with an approving tone of voice. "I assume you have a point, Mother?" His mother beamed at him. "We were thinking of an arrangement between you and the young Cassiopeia."

"An arrangement? Marriage?" he asked, faking surprise. "I'll assure you mother, I was under no pretense that you brought her over here to make chit-chat about the latest Quidditch trends." He said teasing his mother.

"I've heard many good things about you, Cepheus. Your grades, incredible. Your record, impeccable. Almost of age, too, ready to get a job and settle down." Osiris said in his regal tone as he raised his eyebrows at him.

"And... She approves of this?" He asked. "I'd never be so bold as to wed a young woman without her consent."

"I'm sure she'll approve. Never before has Cassiopeia not followed the best path for herself in life. She will soon see how perfectly you too will go together," Her father told him, but he doubted it. Why would she want to get married to someone so much older than her? Cepheus himself had realized though and answered his own question. She didn't know what she was getting herself into. She probably hadn't even hit puberty yet. How could she consent to marriage when she had never even kissed someone other than her family?

"She's too young to get married, is she not?" Cepheus asked as his eyes scanned the room to where Cassiopeia stood next to her mother, talking. Cassie, as he had teasingly dubbed her, looked barely ten years old. There was no way he was marrying a child. There was absolutely no way that he would let their parents make a child marry him.

"The subject will be brought up before you graduate Hogwarts," Osiris assured him. Only two and a half years away. He'd be eighteen when he graduates, and she'll be fourteen. He'll be engaged to a fourteen-year-old girl. What a pervert. She'll be jail-bait to him by then. What were his parents thinking? At the most, they could wait until the summer before her fifth year where she'd only have three years between them. But still, the thought of explaining sex to someone that young repulsed him, let alone having to explain it before having to do it with them.

He repressed a shudder of disgust. He wanted to ring his own neck. Again, what were his parents thinking?

Cepheus nodded his head and forced a grateful smile on his lips. "Well then, I look forward to your correspondence."


	4. FOUR

December 18th, 2004,

Tinworth, (Wizarding Village), Cornwall, England,

Curiosity was burning in Theo in anticipation. The car ride was pleasant enough even though the nonstop talking was getting on his nerves a bit. He supposed this is what having a big family is like though. He looked out the window to his right for most of the journey, which felt like forever, until they finally pulled into a small village. The car pulled up outside a terraced row of houses in the shape of an L. Everyone pilled out of the car and wasted no time rushing about getting their trunks and owls. Theo stood back from the chaos of all Alex's cousins and watched the scene in amusement. The scene was laughable.

A couple of kids came running out of the door in the very corner of the houses and were scooped up promptly by varying members of the Knowles family. For Theo, being an only child, it was overwhelming that so many people could love each other. Max, Alex's father gestured for Theo to go in. The door barely looked big enough for Theo to walk through, not to mind Alex's giant of a father. He had to duck while walking through but he set foot through the door, the doorway expanded and the hallway that previously looked bare and cramped was now a grand space partly covered in clutter.

There was a couple of doors leading off to other rooms, but the most eye-catching thing was the massive staircase at the end of the hallway taking up the whole wall.

The longer Theo was there, the more amazed he became. There was always someone running around; either a toddler or one of Alex's Uncles or Aunts. Ales showed him around the second floor; A couple of bedrooms, Alex's bedroom, a broom closet, and a bathroom. The third story was almost the same.

The fourth story was the last one, and the extension charm placed on the house was even more noticeable on the top floor. Instead of a hallway at the top of the staircase, there was just an open-planned landing that lead into the living area and kitchen. Magazines and bookshelves littered the living area and the kitchen was just magical, in Theo's opinion.

It was brilliant, pots and pans moved about the kitchen washing and putting themselves away, knitting needles looped and threaded itself as it knitted the next jumper, and cakes and sweets were covering themselves in icing and sprinkles. Theo walked around the room in a daze.

It was magical and in the middle of the fantastic madness, Alex's twin cousins stood yelling at each other viciously. Isabelle was done with her brother's stupid protectiveness and decided to let him know, "Leave me alone, James! I didn't sleep with him! Even if I had, it would be none of your business!" She screamed at him, her wand sparking dangerously.

Alex stood beside Theo at the edge of the room snickering at James' face growing red. Unfortunately, their Uncle just happened to walk into the room with a little boy in his strong arms.

"You what, Isabelle?!" He shouted in shock and anger, after only hearing the last part of their argument. Max put the little boy with brown hair on the ground gently, "Matt, go get your Uncle Luther." The boy smiled and ran off in search of him.

"We should go before we get sucked in," Alex whispered and nudged Theo towards the stairs. The silence in the air was thick as they managed to lithely escape, and almost had gotten off easy when his Uncle Luther came up the stairs, his son James directly behind him, "Not so fast Alexander. Do you know what's going on here?" Luther demanded.

Alex sighed in defeat. Great, he thought, interrogation time with the family.

"Taylor Swift here," He pointed at Isabella halfheartedly, "—went out with a brainless behemoth in seventh year, and this Neanderthal," he gestured to James, "—decided he needed to defend his dear twin's honour by getting into a brawl. Then having the audacity to tell Barbie that she was a slut for doing The Do with the Hulk."

"What?!" Thundered the three eldest in the room.

Theo stood shyly behind his friend. Max rubbed his face tiredly, then suggested, "Theo why don't you try find Noah, my eldest? Dinner should be ready soon." Theo nodded back at him and with one last glance at Alex, left to find Alex's older brother.

Theo wandered downstairs to the third floor and knocked on every door. He met Alex's aunt Jessica on that floor, trying to get her seven-year-old son to sleep, and Victoria. On the second floor, he only found Alex's little sister in a playroom who was insistent that he stay to play Barbie. He was almost defeated when he stepped down to the first floor when he almost got run over by an angry brunet. The young man with brown hair and tanned skin, stopped as he muttered an apology. Theo asked nervously, "Noah?"

The young man paused again and around. His eyes widened when they landed on Theo. "Who are you?" He asked suspiciously.

"Alex's friend. Are you Noah?" The man's shoulders tensed again.

"No, I'm not. He's downstairs. My name is Benjamin, and yours is Theodore, isn't it?" He asked rhetorically.

Theo shrugged and replied as he turned back down the stairs, "Maybe," Theo called out cheekily. His curiosity was burning by now.

What must Noah have said to rile Benjamin up so much? Why did he look like he was going to Avada someone? How did Benjamin know his name?

There wasn't much on the ground floor. A lot of empty study rooms and an obviously frequently used library.

The second last room was what Theo thought was another bedroom so he knocked, "Noah?" He asked through the door.

"Come in." Was the muffled reply he got.

Theo opened the door and the sudden lack of brightness blinded him temporarily. "Noah?" Theo called out, blinking and trying to regain his sight in the dark. His eyes quickly adjusted to the stark contrast between rooms, and he immediately wished he hadn't. The room was dark, and dank and had no wallpaper or plaster on them. Just brick. Dirty bricks, nonetheless.

A dark figure slumped over a cauldron in ragged black muggle jeans and a rippled muggle t-shirt. The shadow of a person was wearing all sorts of jewelry; feather earrings and a long chain around his neck were only some parts of him Theo could see.

There was a shelf covered in skulls, bits'n'bobs, and books, but they were all covered in dust. There was only one another shelf and it seemed to be solely dedicated to weird coloured vials. Theo shuffled towards rage doorway, not wanting to step on any one of the miscellaneous objects littering the ground.

"Are you Noah?"

"Yes." The man replied without taking his eyes off the potion.

"I'm Theo, by the way. Your father sent me to fetch you. He said dinner's ready." Theo stated. "So, what are you making?"

"A cure." Was all Noah said.

"A cure for what?" Theo asked excitedly. He wasn't the most observant creature, so, therefore, didn't notice the discomfort in Noah's body language, his tense shoulders, his short breaths, or flushed cheeks.

"Nothing." He admitted quietly.

"Oh." Theo paused. "Should I tell your father that you're coming?"

"No. Because I'm not. I'm not hungry." Noah snapped, for the first time showing some animosity towards Theo. Theo took the hint. "Okay..."

He closed the door behind him as he left, baffled.

He made his journey back up the three flights of stairs and told Max that Noah was not coming to dinner. Instead of getting angry, like Theo expected, he just sighed defeatedly.

Dinner was a loud affair. Yet still not as crazy as he imagined. He pictured the twins firing bread rolls at each other from opposite ends of the table, Alex loudly rambling off about a girl in their year called Cassiopeia, Alex's older brothers telling stories of their day at work where a mad animal had escaped, and the Head Boy— Alex's cousin James— yelling over all of them to be quiet and respectful.

Instead, quiet Victoria showed a shockingly witty sense of humour now that she was back in her element at home, while James and Isabelle were furtively shooting not-so-secretive glares at each other.

Noah was a no-show, Benjamin was in a terrible mood probably because of the said aforementioned brother, and all the younger ones sat at the end of the table by the adults. Just as Theo had that train of thought he glanced down the table and noticed Alex's father and uncle, Max and Luther, were sitting remarkably stiff.

Theo didn't get to ponder on any reason before the most interesting part of the evening started.

"Mum, where's Noah?" Victoria asked her mother from across the table. Claire paused before answering, putting her cutler down.

"Yeah, what's Superman doing that's too important to join his family for dinner?" Alex added.

Claire finally answered, "Working."

Theo leaned over the Alex and said quietly, "When I went down he was making a potion." Alex nodded, showing that he had heard, but didn't make any comment.

"Daddy? Can _I_ have a boyfriend?" Emily, Alex's youngest sister, asked her father brightly.

Max spluttered on his cup of water before coughing. After a few claps in the back from his wife he finally turned to his only daughter with a firm look in his eyes. "What's makes you want a boyfriend, princess?"

"Isabelle has one." She announced, proud of her knowledge, "—And I've decided I want to start dating boys, too, Daddy." By now, everyone had turned in to listen curiously. Emily exclaimed out again, "His name is A-moss." She pronounced carefully.

James' face grew red and he clenched his jaw at the mention of the boy. Alex snickered to Theo and nudged him in the ribs. Alex whispered, "Look at James!"

Isabelle's mother, Claire, sat slack-jawed and turned to her daughter accusingly; but before she could start an interrogation Emily came back with, "—But since James seems to have such an al—err—jick reaction to his name, we might as well make up a code name for him. You know, so he doesn't get mad enough to tell uncle Luther about her and A-moss in the Astron-om-me tower." Emily's words were very well out together for a nine-year-old.

"Let's call him... " But Emily never got to come up with a nickname -a habit she earned by spending a lot of time with Alex- because Isabelle and James' parents both turned to their children immediately, demanding an explanation.

"Isabelle! I can't believe you would tell your little cousin such things! She's only nine years old and already you are only sixteen. Far too young to—" Luther was cut off by his wife.

"Why haven't you mentioned him before?! You should've told us you were seeing someone! Who is this boy anyway? James, do you know him?"

"Unfortunately, I do. He is in my Herbology class, after all. A complete buffoon and an entirely unacceptable significant other for Isabelle, if you asked me," drawled James from his seat beside Benjamin and Isabelle shot him a withering glare from her seat.

"Well no one did, James," Isabelle replied snootily, getting fed up with her family's nosiness.

"Isabelle, we still need to talk about this! What do you have to say for yourself, young lady," Claire snapped in anticipation. Her tone was unfriendly but if you had seen her, the look of worry and concern clouding her face was apparent.

"I never slept with him!" She screamed out in frustration, turning to James who's ears burned like tomatoes.

She stormed off to her room, presumably, and nothing else was said about Amos Dreble that day.

Theo sat, completely shaken to the core by the sudden turn of events. And there he was looking forward to a nice normal Christmas with his best-friend's ginormous family. There goes that idea.

* * *

January 5th, 2005,

Kings Cross Station,

Otsuka couldn't wait to get onto the train that would bring her back to Hogwarts. The empty and ominous castle her parents called her home was especially more terrifying after the Christmas Soiree. No amount of latest broomsticks or fancy self-filling quills were going to make her ignore the arrangement her parents made for her and Cepheus.

Her father was absent when she was leaving for the train. She supposed that was a good thing though because Knowles was bound to make a show of her again.

"Now." Otsuka's mother said as she patted down her daughter's robes in a maternal fashion. "Don't you dare develop a habit of flocking ill-bred children, dear." Then just as quickly the daydream was over, and her mother was showing her ugly prejudiced side again.

"Sure, mother." Otsuka tugged herself away from her mother gently. She brushed some invisible lint off her cloak in order to calm some nerves. Her eyes scanned upwards towards the train where Xavier was waiting for her.

"I'm going to miss the train if I don't go now." Otsuka groaned. "Ladies don't make such unladylike noises, Cassiopeia," Her mother scolded her. Lina tugged on her older sister's sleeve.

"Please don't go," Lina whispered desperately. "I want to go too." Their mother wrapped a perfectly manicured hand around Lina's shoulder. "Don't be ridiculous, Lina. You get to stay at home with me and learn about all the rules of proper etiquette since your previous behavior suggests you've forgotten." There was a sharp edge to her voice and Otsuka was thankful that she was leaving for Hogwarts. She almost snapped back at her mother for using such a sharp tone with her baby sister.

"Otsuka!" a voice called. Otsuka was confused for a second. Xavier's voice hadn't broken yet, had it? She filled with dread as she realized who owned the voice. "I have to go now, Mother." She tried to tug away but her family had already spotted the approaching figure.

"Otsuka, how was your Christmas?" Alexander Knowles asked with a disarming smile, oblivious to the awkward tension between mother and daughter. Otsuka bid her goodbye to her mother, then her sister, and stomped down the platform with her trunk following behind her. "Go away, Knowles."

"I'm only trying to be friendly," He replied as he jogged to keep up with her. She turned on him unexpectedly, "No! You're not! You're annoying me because you take sadistic pleasure in embarrassing me!" She seethed, jabbing her wand into his stomach. Otsuka stretched her spine as she tried to come eye level with him, but he'd grown again over Christmas and was even taller now.

"Come on, Otsuka," He tried to reason with her, "I'm only trying to melt that block of ice you call a heart." She scoffed and walked off towards the train. When her fingers twitched for her wand, he didn't even flinch. He was obviously convinced she wouldn't harm him.

She defeatedly realized that she didn't scare him at all.

The train ride was just as boring as last year for Otsuka, minus the nerves this time around. She was worried about her impending marriage but reckoned that she was safe at school because no sixteen-year-old would want to associate themselves with second years.

Unfortunately, that presumption would later be proven incorrect.

* * *

Early 2005,

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,

The Dungeons,

Otsuka wandered through halls again after the Christmas break with a permanent lump in her stomach. Her nerves were constantly on edge and she progressively spent more and more time in her dorm, alone.

Soon enough, the year was coming to a close. The weather slowly got warmer and the sun stayed out longer. She usually loved spring but was lacking the urge to go outside and enjoy it this year. The feeling of a giant sword looming over her was hard to ignore when sitting outside while the sun rises. Her eyes glazed over as she watched the golden sunrise appear before her.

Gold, like the diadem upstairs in a box under her bed. Another constant reminder of who she was and who she had to be. So she retreated back to the library before classes and didn't go back out to enjoy the fresh spring air again.

Her mother gave it to her for Christmas because it was an old family heirloom and she was finally 'becoming a woman.' Otsuka wasn't interested in it though and refused to wear it now that she was at school. The flashy gold piece was kept in a small trunk under the bed, along with a decently sized bundle of letters she'd received. Unfortunately, even though Cepheus didn't acknowledge her in school publicly, he'd sent her quite a few letters. Random bits of trivia, asking about her day, schoolwork, tidbits of information about his classes. His penmanship was elegant and neat unlike her scrawly script, and he kept their correspondence to a certain level of formality.

She returned the letters likewise, out of politeness. But they only made the lump in her throat bigger with every single one she got.

Someday she would choke on that lump, and he wouldn't even care, Otsuka thought hopelessly as she walked up the stairs, shoulders slumped, towards her Charms class.

She was fed up with Ravenclaws. Those arrogant, obnoxious, vain, only mildly-intelligent gits. Professor Flitwick was ill and therefore they had a substitute Professor. Longbottom was the stand-in, unfortunately, so she spent the entire class trying to finish homework and ignoring the vapid bints behind her giggling about their Professor's 'good-looks'. He kept glancing around the room nervously, so Otsuka studied him studiously and subtly.

His usual unrelenting calmness had faded and he was now skittish.

After finishing her homework in half and hour she sat staring at him unflinchingly. Her nerves grated more and more as her Ravenclaw classmates kept sending flying notes with faulty Leviosa-s' that bumped into her as they zoomed past.

Knowles was sitting in-front of her, he too was finished his homework, and was reading a book. She wouldn't have cared less if it were not for his constant rubbing of his fingers against the aged parchment.

Her anger had boiled up so much that she almost knocked her chair over as she stood up with such velocity. It was technically lunch time in the Great Hall, but she wasn't hungry so she headed to her dorms to read.

She was so caught up in her anger that she didn't notice quickly approaching footprints echoing through the halls behind her until a large hand tapped her on the shoulder gently. She whipped around ready to start an attack on whoever was about to annoy her furthermore, but her tongue was shocked into a state of stillness.

There before her stood the very imposing -and slightly terrifying- future husband of hers.

"Cassie. Nice to see you again." The words rolled out of his mouth with great eloquence and elegance. Her instincts told her to run, but her upbringing told her to take whatever he had to say with a straight face.

•TBC•


End file.
